Peg-modified arginine/lysine oxidoreductase

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase modified with polyethylene glycol and to a production method thereof and to methods of treating disorders responsive to a modification of amino acid levels reactive oxygen species and/or ammonium.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to an arginine/lysine oxidoreductasemodified with polyethylene glycol.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Since decades, tremendous efforts are made to collect pharmacologicallyactive substances from natural organisms and to test their effects invarious disease areas.

The sea hare Aplysia punctata produces a purple ink to protect itselffrom predation. This ink was shown to contain an anti-tumor activity(Butzke et al., 2004). Subsequently, studies were conducted to isolatethe factor from crude ink, resulting in the discovery of APIT, theAplysia Punctata Ink Toxin. Recently, the factor was cloned andcharacterized to be a weakly glycosylated FAD-binding L-amino acidoxidase that catalyzes the oxidative deamination of L-lysine andL-arginine and thereby produces hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), ammonium (NH₄⁺) and the corresponding alpha-keto acids (Butzke et al., 2005).

L-amino acid oxidases (LAAOs, EC 1.4.3.2), can be found in secretionsand venoms. Members of this family of flavoenzymes catalyze thestereospecific oxidative deamination of L-amino acids and therebyproduce H₂O₂, ammonium and the corresponding alpha-keto acids (Du etal., 2002). The individual LAAOs differ in their substrate specificity:Snake venom L-amino acid oxidases (sv-LAAOs) which constitute up to 30%(by weight) of the crude venom (Ponnudurai et al., 1994), possess aclear preference for hydrophobic amino acids. A fish capsule LAAO termedAIP (Apoptosis-Inducing Protein) which is induced by larval nematodeinfection of Scomber japonicus is highly specific for L-lysine (Jung etal., 2000). Achacin, a mucus LAAO from the African snail Achatinafulica, metabolizes a very broad range of substrates, includinghydrophobic amino acids along with L-lysine, L-arginine, L-cysteine,L-asparagine and L-tyrosine (Ehara et al., 2002).

L-amino acid oxidases have not been investigated for their half-lifeafter administration to mammalians at any routes. With respect to drugdevelopment, this is however an important issue and a prerequisite toefficiently exert a therapeutic effect. Data in this respect are onlyavailable for a D-amino acid oxidase employing D-proline as substrate(Fang et al., 2002). After intravenous injection, native D-amino acidoxidase was, however, rapidly cleared from the circulation. A pegylatedderivative did not exhibit a significantly increased circulationhalf-life time which was well below 1 h. A product with such a shortcirculation half life time cannot be expected to have a substantialtherapeutic benefit for therapy, e.g. for cancer therapy. Thus,according to the teaching of the prior art it would have been expectedthat pegylated amino acid oxidases would lack therapeutically efficacy.

An object of the present invention was to increase the therapeuticefficacy of L-amino acid oxidoreductases in order to provide atherapeutic product with improved characteristics.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses for the first time an arginine/lysineoxidoreductase modified with at least one polyethylene glycol moiety andpharmaceutical compositions comprising said modified arginine/lysineoxidoreductase, a production method thereof and methods to treatingdiseases responsive to modulation of plasma amino acid levels or/andresponsive to reactive oxygen species or/and ammonium, for exampleproliferative diseases, viral infections or/and microbial infections.

In a preferred embodiment, an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase termedAplysia punctata ink toxin (APIT) is modified with at least onepolyethylene glycol moiety having a weight average molecular weight offrom about 1,000 to about 10,000.

An additional embodiment of the invention describes methods ofproduction of a pegylated arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.

A further embodiment describes a method of enhancing the enzymaticactivity and circulation time of an arginine/lysine oxidoreductasecomprising pegylation of an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.

An additional embodiment refers to a method of protecting anarginine/lysine oxidoreductase against inactivation by body fluidscomprising pegylation of an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.

In a further aspect, the present invention refers to a method fordepleting the amino acids lysine or/and arginine in a liquid, comprisingadding an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase to the liquid.

Yet another embodiment refers to a kit comprising an arginine/lysineoxidoreductase of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is achieved by covalently modifyingarginine/lysine oxidoreductases, particularly L-arginine/lysineoxidases, with polyethylene glycol (PEG). The present invention is basedon the surprising discovery that arginine/lysine oxidoreductasesmodified with polyethylene glycol are circulating in the plasma of micefor more than 48 h and retain their enzymatic activity. In contrast,unmodified arginine/lysine oxidoreductases are active in circulation foronly about 3 h at equivalent activity-based dose.

Furthermore, it was surprisingly found that dosing of a PEG modifiedarginine/lysine oxidoreductase can be significantly reduced comparedwith the unmodified arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.

Moreover, it was surprisingly found that PEG modified arginine/lysineoxidoreductase has a smaller IC50 value for inhibition of lung cancercells than unmodified arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.

Furthermore, arginine/lysine oxidoreductases modified with polyethyleneglycol provide a unique means in lowering amino acid levels lysine andarginine thereby producing reactive oxygen species and ammonium. Allthese effects or parts thereof are sufficient to treat certain types ofdisorders. When compared to a native arginine/lysine oxidoreductase, apegylated arginine/lysine oxidoreductase retains most of its enzymaticactivity, is able to deplete lysine and arginine in mammalians for 48 hand more, and is much more efficacious in the treatment of diseasesresponsive to a modification of amino acid levels and/or reactive oxygenspecies or ammonium. Moreover, the pegylated arginine/lysineoxidoreductase is active even in the presence of specific antibodiesdirected to the unmodified arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a conjugate comprisingan arginine/lysine oxidoreductase and at least one polyethylene glycolmoiety.

“Conjugate” as used herein refers to a compound which comprises apolypeptide portion preferably including a coenzyme such as FAD to whichat least one polyethylene glycol moiety has been coupled by a covalentlinkage.

The conjugate of the present invention may comprise any knownarginine/lysine oxidoreductase, particularly L-arginine/lysineoxidoreductase, which catalyzes the conversion of L-arginine or/andL-lysine into the respective alpha imino acid. In this step, the enzymeproduces H₂O₂ in stoichiometric amounts. In a second step, the alphaimino acid is converted into an alpha keto acid under release ofammonium. The second step is not dependent upon the arginine/lysineoxidoreductase activity. Details of the reaction catalyzed byarginine/lysine oxidoreductase are described in WO 2004/065415 which isincluded herein by reference.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the conjugatecomprises an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase which is anL-arginine/L-lysine oxidoreductase.

In a further preferred embodiment, the conjugate comprises anarginine/lysine oxidoreductase which is specific for arginine or/andlysine. In particular, the enzymatic activity for the processing oflysine or/and arginine, in particular L-lysine or/and L-arginine, is atleast a factor of about 3 or about 4 larger than the enzymatic activityfor the processing of other amino acids, in particular of alpha-L-aminoacids naturally present in organisms.

A preferred arginine/lysine oxidoreductase may be obtained from anAplysia species, in particular from Aplysia punctata. For example, theAplysia Punctata Ink Toxin (APIT), which is an arginine/lysineoxidoreductase of the present invention, can be found in the ink of thesea hare Aplysia punctata. This enzyme and its manufacture is describedin WO 2004/065415 which is included herein by reference.

Further, a suitable L-lysine a-oxidase is described in Lukasheva E V,Berezov T T. L-Lysine alpha-oxidase: physiochemical and biologicalproperties. Biochemistry (Mosc.) 2002 October; 67(10):1152-8.

The arginine/lysine oxidase may be a native molecule isolated from anatural source or a recombinant molecule obtained from a recombinant,e.g. non-naturally ocurring source. In a preferred embodiment, theconjugate may also comprise a recombinant arginine/lysineoxidoreductase.

In an especially preferred embodiment, the conjugate of the presentinvention comprises an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase comprising

(a) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, or/and 8,(b) a sequence with at least which is at least 70% identical to thesequence of (a), or/and(c) a fragment of (a) or/and (b).

SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, and 8 differ in several amino acid positions. SEQ IDNO: 8 describes a preferred arginine/lysine oxidoreductase isolated fromAplysia punctata (see examples of the present invention). SEQ ID NO: 2,4, and 6 describe further arginine/lysine oxidoreductases isolated fromAplysia punctata. SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, and 6 are described in WO 2004/065415which is included herein by reference.

The preferred sequence of (a) is SEQ ID NO: 8.

The sequence of (b) is a sequence which is at least 70%, preferably atleast 80%, more preferably at least 90%, even more preferably at least95%, most preferably at least 99% identical to the sequence of (a). Theidentity is determined in the region of maximal overlap. The personskilled in the art can determine the region of maximal overlap bycommonly known algorithms such as FASTA, BLAST or/and derivativesthereof relating to amino acid sequences.

The fragment of (c) is any enzymatically active fragment of anarginine/lysine oxidoreductase of (a) or (b) and may have a length of aleast about 30 amino acid residues, preferably at least about 50 aminoacid residues, more preferably at least about 100 amino acid residues,most preferably at least about 200 amino acid residues.

The fragment of (c) may have a length of smaller than the full length ofSEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, or/and 8, preferably at the maximum about 500 aminoacid residues, more preferably at the maximum about 400 amino acidresidues, most preferably at the maximum about 300 amino acid residues.

The fragment of (c) may be selected from sequences derived from SEQ IDNO: 2, 4, 6 or/and 8 by removing N-terminal amino acids. The N-terminusmay represent signal sequences which are not required for theoxidoreductase function. Preferably, up to about 5, up to about 10, upto about 20, or up to about 50 N-terminal amino acids are removed. Morepreferably, in SEQ ID NO: 2, 18 N-terminal amino acids are removed,or/and in SEQ ID NO:4, 17 N-terminal amino acids are removed.

The conjugate of the present invention is preferably active in thecirculation for at least 6 h, i.e. the conjugate has preferably acirculation time of at least 6 h. In the context of the presentinvention, “circulation time” refers to the time the conjugate of thepresent invention retains its activity, in particular its enzymaticactivity, during circulation in a subject. In the present invention, theterm “circulation time” is also applied to other compounds forcomparative purposes. For instance, “circulation time” is applied tounmodified APIT. The circulation time may also be expressed by thecirculation half life time.

The conjugate of the present invention is more preferably active in thecirculation for at least 12 h, even more preferably at least 24 h, mostpreferably at least 48 h.

It was surprisingly found that the dose of the conjugate of the presentinvention can significantly be reduced compared with the correspondingunmodified arginine/lysine oxidoreductase. For instance, an amount of0.6 Units/kg PEG-5000-APIT is capable of depleting lysine and argininelevels in blood plasma in mice for 6 h. Unmodified APIT requires 1000Units/kg to achieve the same effect. Thus the dose of PEG-5000-APIT canbe reduced by a factor of about 1667 compared with unpegylated APIT. Inother words, the activity of PEG-5000-APIT is a factor of about 1667larger than the activity of unmodified APIT.

Therefore, in a preferred embodiment, the activity of the conjugate ofthe present invention is a factor of at least 30, preferably at least100, more preferably at least 300, even more preferably at least 1000,most preferably at least 1500 larger than the activity of thearginine/lysine oxidoreductase not carrying a polyethylene glycolmoiety. The activity is in particular the enzymatic activity. Moreparticularly the activity is the enzymatic activity in the blood plasmaafter administration to a subject, for instance a mammal such as arodent or a human. The enzymatic activity may be determined bydetermination of the dose required to deplete arginine or/and lysine ina liquid, for instance a body fluid such as blood plasma, for apredetermined length of time. The length of time may be selected fromranges of about 3 to about 48 h, about 6 to about 24 h, or about 12 toabout 18 h, or may preferably be about 3 h, about 6 h, about 12 h, about24 h, or about 48 h. Arginine or/and lysine may be depleted to apredetermined level, for instance 0 μM. The predetermined level may beselected from a range of 0 μM to about 10 μM, 0 μM to 20 μM, or 0 μM toabout 100 μM.

The factor of activity improvement can for instance be calculated bydividing the dose of the unpegylated arginine/lysine oxidoreductase bythe dose of the conjugate of the present invention, which doses arerequired for depletion of arginine or/and lysine for a predeterminedlength of time.

In a further preferred embodiment, the conjugate of the presentinvention comprises at least one polyethylene glycol moiety having aweight average molecular weight of about 1,000 Dalton to about 10,000Dalton, preferably of about 3,000 Dalton to about 8,000 Dalton, morepreferably of about 4,000 Dalton to about 6,000 Dalton, even morepreferably about 4,500 Dalton to about 5,500 Dalton, most preferablyabout 5,000 Dalton.

The polyethylene glycol moiety as employed herein includes unmodifiedand modified polyethylene glycol moieties suitable for coupling topolypeptides. The modified polyethylene glycol moieties preferablyinclude terminally modified polyethylene glycol moieties, wherein theterminal OH group has been modified, e.g. by alkylation, acylationand/or oxidation. More preferably, the polyethylene glycol moieties haveterminal OH groups or modified terminal groups selected from O—C₁₋₃alkyl groups and acyl groups or combinations thereof.

In yet another preferred embodiment, the conjugate comprises at leastone polyethylene glycol moiety which is covalently coupled to thearginine/lysine oxidoreductase via a linking group. The linking groupmay be a succinimide group, preferably a succinimidyl succinate group.

In yet another preferred embodiment, the conjugate of the presentinvention comprises from 1 to about 30 polyethylene glycol moieties,preferably from 1 to about 20 polyethylene glycol moieties, morepreferably from 1 to about 10 polyethylene glycol moieties.

In the conjugate of the present invention, the at least one polyethyleneglycol group may be coupled to any amino acid with a side chain carryinga reactive functional group, such as a carboxylate group, amino group,thiol group and/or hydroxy group, for example an amino acid selectedfrom aspartate, glutamate or/and lysine. A preferred embodiment refersto a conjugate wherein the at least one polyethylene glycol moiety iscoupled via a lysine residue to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.Since SEQ ID NO: 8 comprises 23 lysine residues, a conjugate of thepresent invention comprising a polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 8 may compriseup to 23 polyethylene glycol moieties, preferably up to about 10polyethylene glycol moieties coupled via a lysine residue.

It is more preferred that in the conjugate of the present invention, theat least one polyethylene group is coupled to lysine via a linker group,e.g. a succinimide linker group or any other suitable linker group forcoupling to amino groups. It is even more preferred that in theconjugate of the present invention, the at least one polyethylene grouphas a weight average molecular weight of about 4,500 to about 5,500Dalton and is coupled to lysine by via a linker group, e.g. asuccinimide linker group.

Most preferred is a conjugate comprising an L-arginine/L-lysineoxireductase comprising SEQ ID NO: 8 and at least one polyethyleneglycol group having a weight average molecular weight of about 4,500 to5,500 Dalton.

Yet another aspect is a method of producing the conjugate of the presentinvention, comprising the steps

(a) recombinantly expressing an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase or/andisolating an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase from a natural source,(b) coupling at least one polyethylene glycol moiety to thearginine/lysine oxidoreductase of (a).

Preferred natural sources of an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase which maybe employed in step (a) are as described above.

Step (a) preferably comprises a recombinant expression of a nucleic acidcomprising

(i) the sequence SEQ ID NO: 1, 3, 5, or/and 7,(ii) a sequence complementary to the sequence of (i),(iii) a sequence within the scope of the degeneracy of the genetic codeof the sequence of (i) or (ii),(iv) a sequence which is at least 70% identical to the sequence of (i),(ii) or/and (iii),(v) a sequence which hybridizes with any of the sequences (i), (ii),(iii) or/and (iv) under stringent conditions, or/and (vi) a fragment ofany of the sequences (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or/and (v).

SEQ ID NO: 1, 3, 5, and 7 are nucleic acid sequences encodingpolypeptides comprising the amino acid sequences SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, 6, and8, respectively. SEQ ID NO: 1, 3, 5, and 7 differ in several nucleotidepositions. SEQ ID NO: 7 describes the nucleotide sequence encoding anarginine/lysine oxidoreductase isolated from Aplysia punctata (seeexamples of the present invention). SEQ ID NO:1, 3, and 5 describefurther nucleotide sequences encoding arginine/lysine oxidoreductasesisolated from Aplysia punctata. SEQ ID NO:1, 3, and 5 are described inWO 2004/065415 which is included herein by reference.

A preferred sequence of (i) is SEQ ID NO: 7.

The nucleotide sequence of (iv) is a sequence which is at least 70%,preferably at least 80%, more preferably at least 90%, even morepreferably at least 95%, most preferably at least 99% identical to thesequence of (i), (ii) or/and (iii). The identity of the nucleotidesequences is determined within the region of maximal overlap. A personskilled in the art can easily determine the region of maximal overlap bycommonly known algorithms such as FASTA or BLAST.

The person skilled in the art knows stringent hybridization conditions(see e.g. Sambrook J. et al., 1989, Molecular Cloning, A LaboratoryManual, Cold Spring Harbor Press, Plainview, N.Y.). Hybridization understringent conditions in step (v) preferably means that after washing for1 h with 1×SSC and 0.1% SDS at 55° C., preferably at 62° C. and morepreferably at 68° C., particularly after washing for 1 h with 0.2×SSCand 0.1% SDS at 55° C., preferably at 62° C. and more preferably at 68°C., a hybridization signal is detected.

The fragment of (vi) may have a length of a least about 90 nucleotideresidues, preferably at least about 150 nucleotide residues, morepreferably at least about 300 nucleotide residues, most preferably atleast about 600 nucleotide residues.

The fragment of (vi) may have a length of smaller than the full lengthof SEQ ID NO: 1, 3, 5, or/and 7, preferably at the maximum about 1500nucleotide residues, more preferably at the maximum about 1200nucleotide residues, most preferably at the maximum about 900 nucleotideresidues.

The fragment of (vi) may be selected from sequences derived from SEQ IDNO: 1, 3, 5 and 7 by removing 5′ nucleotides encoding the N-terminalamino acids which may represent signal sequences which are not requiredfor the oxidoreductase function. Preferably, up to about 15, up to about30, up to about 60, or up to about 150 5′ nucleotides are removed. Morepreferably, in SEQ ID NO: 1, 54 5′ nucleotides are removed, or/and inSEQ ID NO:3, 51 5′ nucleotides are removed.

The person skilled in the art knows methods for recombinant expressionof a protein, isolation, refolding and introduction of prosthetic groupssuch as FAD. In the examples of the present invention the recombinantexpressing of SEQ ID NO: 7 is described in order to obtain a polypeptidecomprising SEQ ID NO: 8. Preferred host cells for recombinant expressionare prokaryotic or eukaryotic host cells, e.g. yeast cells or bacterialcells, particularly Gram-negative bacterial cells, such as E. coli.

The method for the preparation of the conjugate of the present inventionmay further comprise the introduction of a coenzyme such as FAD into thearginine/lysine oxidoreductase.

Step (b) of the method for the preparation of the conjugate of thepresent invention refers to coupling of at least one polyethylene glycolmoiety to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase obtained in step (a).Pegylation in step (b) may be performed by standard procedures known bya person skilled in the art.

In step (b), a polyethylene glycol may be employed having a weightaverage molecular weight of about 1,000 Dalton to about 10,000 Dalton,preferably of about 3,000 Dalton to about 8,000 Dalton, more preferablyof about 4,000 Dalton to about 6,000 Dalton, even more preferably about4,500 Dalton to about 5,500 Dalton, most preferably about 5,000 Dalton.

The polyethylene glycol moiety may be covalently bound via a linkinggroup, which may be a succinimide group, preferably a succinimidylsuccinate.

Other linking groups may also be employed. The person skilled in the artknows suitable linking groups.

It is preferred that the at least one polyethylene glycol moiety iscoupled via a lysine residue to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.Coupling to lysine can be performed by applying a succinimide linkergroup. Coupling may also performed to other amino acid side chainscarrying a functional group such as a carboxylase group, amino group,thiol group or/and hydroxy group, such as aspartate or glutamate.

In order to provide a conjugate of the present invention comprising from1 to about 30 polyethylene glycol moieties, preferably from 1 to about20 polyethylene glycol moieties, more preferably from 1 to about 10polyethylene glycol moieties, an excess of polyethylene glycol may beemployed in step (b). The polyethylene glycol may be provided in anamount of from about 10 to about 500 equivalents, preferably from about10 to about 50 equivalents with respect to the number of free residuesavailable for coupling, for instance the number of free lysine residues.In particular, about 10, about 20, about 30, about 40, about 50, about200, or about 500 equivalents polyethylene glycol may be employed. Anexcess of 50 equivalents may result in coupling of about 10 PEGmolecules per molecule arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is a pharmaceuticalcomposition comprising a conjugate of the present invention optionallytogether with pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, adjuvants, diluentsor/and additives.

The pharmaceutical composition of the present invention may be suitablefor the prevention, alleviation or/and treatment of a disease responsiveto reactive oxygen species or/and ammonium, or/and responsive tomodulation of plasma amino acid levels, in particular of plasma lysineor/and arginine levels. The pharmaceutical composition of the presentinvention may also be suitable for the prevention, alleviation or/andtreatment of a disease selected from microbial infections, viralinfections such as HIV, hepatitis B or/and C virus infections, andproliferative diseases such as cancer.

The pharmaceutical composition of the present invention is suitable forthe treatment of solid tumors and leukemias in general includingapoptosis resistant and multi drug resistant cancer forms.

The proliferative disease to be treated with the pharmaceuticalcomposition of the present invention may be lung cancer, MDR lungcancer, head and neck cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, coloncancer, cervix cancer, uterus cancer, larynx cancer, gastric cancer,liver cancer, Ewings sarkoma, acute lymphoid leukemia, acute and chronicmyeloid leukemia, apoptosis resistant leukemia, pancreas cancer, kidneycancer, gliomas, melanomas, chronic lympoid leukemia, or/and lymphoma.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is a method for theprevention, alleviation or/and treatment of a disease responsive toreactive oxygen species, ammonium or/and responsive to modulation ofamino acid levels in body fluids, in particular of plasma lysine or/andarginine levels, which method comprises administering an effectiveamount of the conjugate of the of the present invention or/and apharmaceutical composition of the present invention to a subject in needthereof. The disease to be treated by the method is in particular amicrobial infection, a viral infection or/and a proliferative disease asdefined above.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is a kit comprising theconjugate of the present invention or/and the pharmaceutical compositionof the present invention.

A further aspect of the present invention refers to a method forenhancing the enzymatic activity or/and circulation time of anarginine/lysine oxidoreductase, which method comprises coupling at leastone polyethylene glycol moiety to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase. Inthis method, the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase may in particular be thearginine/lysine oxidoreductase as defined herein. The polyethyleneglycol moiety may be as defined herein.

Yet a further aspect of the present invention is a method for protectingan arginine/lysine oxidoreductase against inactivation in body fluidssuch as blood plasma comprising coupling at least one polyethyleneglycol moiety to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase. In this method, thearginine/lysine oxidoreductase may in particular be the arginine/lysineoxidoreductase as defined herein. The polyethylene glycol moiety may beas defined herein. In particular, inactivation in body fluids may beinactivation by antibodies.

A PEG group, in particular a PEG group as described herein, may be usedfor enhancing the enzymatic activity or/and circulation time of anarginine/lysine oxidoreductase, in particular of an arginine/lysineoxidoreductase as defined herein.

A PEG group, in particular a PEG group as described herein, may be usedfor protecting an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase, in particular anarginine/lysine oxidoreductase as defined herein against inactivation inbody fluids such as blood plasma, in particular by antibodies.

The conjugate of the present invention as defined herein or/and thepharmaceutical composition of the present invention as defined hereinmay be used for the depletion of lysine or/and arginine in a liquidor/and for the production of hydrogen peroxide, ammonium or/andmetabolites of lysine or/and arginine in a liquid. The liquid may inparticular be a body fluid of a mammal.

The invention is further demonstrated in the following examples andfigures, which are for purposes of illustration, and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present invention.

Figure Legends

FIG. 1: Primary amino acid sequence of arginine/lysine oxidoreductase,APIT (SEQ ID NO: 8) and a nucleotide sequence coding therefor (SEQ IDNO:7).

FIG. 2: Pegylation of arginine/lysine oxidoreductase, APIT withPEG-5000.

FIG. 3: Activity of PEG-5000-APIT in the presence of anit-APITpolyclonal antibodies.

FIG. 4: Effect of single intravenous dose of APIT (250 U/kg) and APIT(1000 U/kg) on plasma lysine levels in mice.

FIG. 5: Effect of single intravenous dose of APIT (250 U/kg) and APIT(1000 U/kg) on plasma arginine levels in mice.

FIG. 6: Comparison of single intravenous dose of APIT (250 U/kg) andPEG-5000-APIT at an equivalent dose of 250 U/kg on plasma lysine levelsin mice.

FIG. 7: Comparison of single intravenous dose of APIT (250 U/kg) andPEG-5000-APIT at an equivalent dose of 250 U/kg on plasma argininelevels in mice.

FIG. 8: Dose-dependent depletion of plasma lysine levels after singleintravenous administration of PEG-5000-APIT to mice.

FIG. 9: Dose-dependent depletion of plasma arginine levels after singleintravenous administration of PEG-5000-APIT to mice.

FIG. 10: Antitumor efficacy of PEG-5000-APIT.

FIG. 11: Nucleotide sequences of cDNA encoding arginine/lysineoxidoreductases isolated from ink of Aplysia punctata (SEQ ID NO: 1, 3and 5) and the derived amino acid sequences (SEQ ID NO: 2, 4, and 6).The dinucleotide binding fold (28 amino acid residues) and the GG motif(8 amino acid residues) are indicated by boxes.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Method of bulk production of recombinantarginine/lysine oxidoreductase, ART in E. coli

A B-Braun Biostat B10 Fermenter with 5000 ml medium is inoculated with aworking cell starter culture containing the APIT-cDNA comprising SEQ IDNO: 7 under control of a suitable promoter (e.g. T7). Cells are grown upto an optical density of 6-8 (at 600 nm) at 37±0.5° C. Subsequently thecells are induced through the addition of IPTG and further fermented foradditional 3 h at 37±0.5° C. Thereafter, cells are harvested throughcentrifugation and stored at ≦−60° C. The resuspended cells aredisrupted using a French press and the inclusion bodies are separatedfrom the supernatant by centrifugation. The inclusion bodies are storedup to further processing at ≦−60° C. APIT is isolated with urea from theinclusion bodies of the E. coli biomass. The solubilized protein is thenrefolded, concentrated and desalted by TFF (Tangential CrossflowFiltration). Subsequently, APIT is purified by anion exchangechromatography and size exclusion chromatography (SEC).

Isolation of APIT from Inclusion Bodies:

The pellet is resuspended two times in succession in washing-buffer,then NaCl-Washing-buffer and Urea-washing-buffer. The suspension iscentrifuged following each resuspension-step, while the remainingsupernatant is discarded. Thereafter, the pellet is resuspended inResuspensions-Buffer following a final centrifugation step. Thesupernatant is filtrated through 0.2 μm and the (APIT-containing)solution is stored frozen at <−15° C.

Refolding:

This process step is carried out at room temperature (22-25° C.). 200 mLof the isolated APIT from E. coli (in Resuspension-Buffer) are mixedwith 200 mL Guanidine-HCl. This mixture is then injected into 20 Lrefolding buffer containing L-arginine and FAD, using a pump. Themixing/dilution step is supported by a (maximal active) magnet stirrer.Die dilution is realized via 4 Injection sites.

Purification by TFF:

The RF-mixture is filtered using a TFF (0.2 μm) to separate unfoldedprotein. Thereafter, the system is rinsed with 1.6 L Tris-Buffer. APITis concentrated using a 10 kDa-Membrane. Thereafter, the RF-Buffer isdialyzed against the Tris-Buffer. During this step, the conductivity ofthe RF-mixture and Tris-buffered mixture is measured. The 10kDa-Membrane is maintained to change the buffer and to continue theconcentration step. The level of conductivity decrease in theconcentrated APIT solution indicates the duration of the procedure.

Anion-Exchange Chromatography:

The APIT containing sample is further purified by anion-exchangechromatography (SOURCE 30Q-column). The elution of the product from thecolumn is done using a salt-gradient (0-500 mM NaCl) at pH 8.0. Theelute is collected in fractions.

Size Exclusion Chromatography:

The APIT-containing sample is desalted using a size exclusionchromatography (Sephadex G25). The purification occurs with D-PBS. Theeluted product is collected in fractions.

Filling and Storage:

The filling of the bulk product is in sterile PE-containers at a volumeof 1.000 μl and stored at 2-8° C. The primary amino acid sequence ofrecombinant APIT is shown in FIG. 1.

Example 2 Pegylation of Arginine/Lysine Oxidoreductase, APIT withPEG-5,000

Purified arginine/lysine oxidoreductase, APIT from Example 1 wasdesalted with HiPrep Desalting 26/10 column and brought into apegylation reaction buffer containing 50 mM sodiumbicarbonat, pH 9.5.The pegylation reactions were carried by adding a linear polydispersepolyethylene-glycol succinimidylester, MW 5000 Da (PEG-5000-SS) atvarying ratios of PEG-5000-SS to arginine/lysine oxidoreductase (basedon free lysine residues in APIT) from 10 to 50 equivalents (eq) andstirring for 1 hour at 800 rpm and 25° C. The PEG-conjugatedarginine/lysine oxidoreductase variants, PEG-5000-APIT (10 eq),PEG-5000-APIT (20 eq), PEG-5000-APIT (40 eq), PEG-5000-APIT (50 eq) wereindividually purified by gelfiltration from reaction-products andunconjugated PEG-reagent and the buffer was exchanged to sodiumphosphate buffered saline PH 7). The final products were analyzed onSDS-page and for enzymatic activity (FIG. 2). An excess of 50 eq PEGresulted in coupling of about 10 molecules PEG to one molecule APIT.

FIG. 2 shows that the PEG-5000-APIT had an apparent molecular weightranging from 60 kda to >212 kDa. All PEG-5000-APIT variants wereenzymatically active in comparison to unconjugated APIT. The relativeenzymatic activities of PEG-5000-APIT (10 eq), PEG-5000-APIT (20 eq),PEG-5000-APIT (40 eq), PEG-5000-APIT (50 eq) ranged from 58% to 72%.

Example 3 Activity in the Presence of Anti-APIT Polyclonal Antibodies

A high titer (>1:200,000) polyclonal antibody serum against APIT wasraised in rabbits. In order to investigate if PEG-5000-APIT isinactivated by antibodies against APIT, pre-immune rabbit serum andanti-APIT rabbit immune serum was incubated with PEG-5000-APIT for 1 hat 37° C. following analysis of amino acid levels for lysine andarginine. FIG. 3 shows that lysine and arginine levels in rabbitpre-immune rabbit serum and anti-APIT rabbit immune serum were normal(lysine: 238 μM and 265 μM respectively; arginine 207 μM and 179 μMrespectively). Incubation with PEG-5000-APIT resulted in levels oflysine and arginine of 0 μM in both, pre-immune rabbit serum andanti-APIT rabbit immune serum demonstrating that PEG-5000-APIT isenzymatically active in the presence of anti-APIT polyclonal antibodiesand allows for complete depletion of lysine and arginine in liquids.

Example 4 Application to Mice

Mice received a single intravenous administration (tail vein) ofunconjugated APIT (250 U/kg or 1000 U/kg) or PEG-5000-APIT (250 U/kg, 79U/kg, 11 U/kg, 2 U/kg, 0.6 U/kg) or D-PBS (vehicle control)respectively. Serial blood samples were collected from each animal viaorbital sinus under etherization at −1 h pre-dose and at the indicatedtime-points post-dose and transferred into tubes containinganticoagulant (heparin). Each blood sample was centrifuged at 4° C. toprepare plasma for analysis of plasma amino acid levels.

For the amino acid analysis, 25 μL heparin plasma samples were mixedwith 4 μL precipitation-buffer containing sulfosalicyl acid. Then, 6 μLsample dilution buffer containing the internal standard norleucine (Nle,c: 1 nmol/μL) was added and samples were filled up to a final volume of60 μL with sample dilution buffer. Thereafter, samples were mixed(Vortex) and centrifuged. The supernatants were passed through acentrifuge filter by centrifugation. The centrifugate was transferredinto a sample vial and analyzed with the amino acid analyzer A200 usinga physiologic program.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show the effect of APIT at a single intravenous doseof 250 U/kg and 1000 U/kg to mice on plasma arginine or plasma lysinelevels, respectively. A 4-fold increase of the APIT dose from 250 U/kgto 1000 U/kg results in an elongation of depletion of lysine or argininefrom 3 h to 6 h post-dose.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a direct comparison of the effect of unconjugatedAPIT and PEG-5000-APIT at a single intravenous dose of 250 U/kg. Whileunconjugated APIT mediates depletion of lysine (FIG. 6) and arginine(FIG. 7) only for 3 h post-dose, PEG-5000-APIT depletes both amino acidsfor at least 48 h post-dose.

Lysine and arginine plasma levels after single intravenousadministration of different doses of PEG-5000-APIT to mice are shown inFIG. 8 and FIG. 9, respectively.

FIG. 8 demonstrates that a single intravenous dose of 11 Units/kg or 25U/kg or 79 U/kg PEG-5000-APIT completely depletes plasma lysine levelsin mice. A dose of 0.6 U/kg or 2 U/kg still mediates a completedepletion of Lysine in mice for 6 h, which is the effect of 1000 U/kgunconjugated APIT. FIG. 9 demonstrates that a single intravenous dose of79 Units/kg PEG-5000-APIT completely depletes plasma arginine levels inmice. A dose of 25 U/kg or 11 U/kg mediates a complete depletion ofarginine in mice for 24 h.

A dose of 0.6 U/kg or 2 U/kg still mediates a complete depletion ofarginine in mice for 6 h, which is the effect of 1000 U/kg unconjugatedAPIT.

Taken together, this unexpected findings demonstrated in FIGS. 8 and 9mean that less than 0.1% PEG-5000-APIT relating to unconjugated APITdose mediates equivalent effects on lysine and arginine levels inmammalians.

Example 5 Antitumor Efficacy of PEG-5000-APIT

The antitumor efficacy of PEG-5000-APIT was assessed in comparison tounconjugated APIT on A549 lung cancer cells by the MIT assay. The MTTassay is based upon the cleavage of the yellow tetrazolium salt MTT[3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] topurple formazan crystals by metabolically active cells. The tumor cellswere seeded into 96-well culture plates and maintained in culture for 24hours before adding the APIT or PEG-5000-APIT for another 96 h. Aftertreatment, 20 μl of MTT labeling reagent were added to each well andplates were incubated at 37° C. for 4 h. Following MTT incubation, thecultures were incubated with DMSO and the spectrophotometric absorbanceof the samples was detected by using a microtiter plate reader at awavelength of 550 nm. The result was then plotted against the testsubstance concentration to obtain a dose-response curve. The testsubstance concentration that leads to 50% inhibition (IC50) of themetabolic activity was graphically determined and is shown forunconjugated APIT or PEG-5000-APIT in FIG. 10. Unexpectedly, the IC 50of PEG-5000-APIT was lower (633 pU/mL) than the IC50 with unconjugatedAPIT (717 pU/mL) on A549 cells, indicating a higher antitumor effect ofPEG-5000-APIT compared to that of unconjugated APIT.

REFERENCES

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1. A conjugate comprising an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase and at least one polyethylene glycol moiety.
 2. The conjugate of claim 1, wherein the at least one polyethylene glycol moiety has a weight average molecular weight of from about 1,000 Daltons to about 10,000 Daltons.
 3. The conjugate of claim 1, wherein the at least one polyethylene glycol moiety is covalently coupled to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase via a linking group.
 4. The conjugate of claim 3, wherein the linking group is a succinimide group.
 5. The conjugate of claim 3, wherein the at least one polyethylene glycol moiety is coupled via a lysine residue to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.
 6. The conjugate of claim 1 comprising from 1 to about 30 polyethylene glycol moieties, preferably from 1 to about 10 polyethylene glycol moieties.
 7. The conjugate of claim 1, wherein the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase is an L-arginine/L-lysine oxidoreductase.
 8. The conjugate of claim 1, wherein the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase is isolated from a natural source.
 9. The conjugate of claim 1, wherein the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase is a recombinant arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.
 10. The conjugate of claim 1, wherein the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase is selected from the group consisting of: (a) an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase having the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, and/or SEQ ID NO: 8, (b) a sequence which is at least 70% identical to the sequence of (a), or/and (c) a fragment of (a) or (b).
 11. The conjugate of claim 10, wherein the fragment has a length of at least about 30 amino acid residues.
 12. The conjugate of claim 1, wherein the conjugate is active in the circulation of a subject for at least 6 hours.
 13. The conjugate of claim 1, wherein the conjugate has an activity which is a factor of at least 30 larger than the activity of an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase not carrying a polyethylene glycol moiety.
 14. A pharmaceutical composition comprising the conjugate of claim 1 in combination with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, adjuvants, diluents and/or additives. 15-16. (canceled)
 17. A method for the prevention, alleviation and/or treatment of a disease responsive to reactive oxygen species and/or to ammonium, and/or which is responsive to modulation of amino acid levels in body fluids, comprising administering an effective amount of the conjugate of claim 1 to a subject in need thereof.
 18. A method of producing the conjugate of claim 1, comprising the steps of: (a) recombinantly expressing the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase and/or isolating the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase from a natural source, and (b) coupling at least one polyethylene glycol moiety to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase of (a).
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein step (a) comprises recombinantly expressing a nucleic acid selected from the group consisting of: (i) a nucleic acid having the sequence SEQ ID NO: 1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, and/or SEQ ID NO:7, (ii) a nucleic acid having a sequence complementary to the sequence of (i), (iii) a nucleic acid having a sequence within the scope of the degeneracy of the genetic code of the sequence of (i) or (ii), (iv) a nucleic acid having a sequence which is at least 70% identical to the sequence of (i), (ii) and/or (iii), (v) a nucleic acid having a sequence which hybridizes with any of the sequences (i), (ii), (iii) and/or (iv) under stringent conditions, and (vi) a nucleic acid comprising a fragment of any of the sequences of (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), and/or (v).
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the fragment has a length of at least 90 nucleotide residues.
 21. A kit comprising the conjugate of claim
 1. 22. A method for enhancing the enzymatic activity and/or circulation time of an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase, comprising coupling at least one polyethylene glycol moiety to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.
 23. A method for protecting an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase against inactivation in body fluids comprising coupling at least one polyethylene glycol moiety to the arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.
 24. (canceled)
 25. Use of the conjugate of claim 1 for the depletion of lysine and/or arginine in a liquid and/or for the production of hydrogen peroxide, ammonium and/or metabolites of lysine and/or arginine in a liquid.
 26. Use of claim 25, wherein the liquid is a body fluid of a mammal.
 27. Use of at least one polyethylene glycol group for increasing the activity and/or circulation time of an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase.
 28. Use of at least one polyethylene glycol group for protecting an arginine/lysine oxidoreductase against inactivation in body fluids.
 29. The method of claim 17, wherein the disease is selected from the group consisting of microbial infections, viral infections, and proliferative diseases, and wherein the proliferative disease can be cancer.
 30. The method of claim 17, wherein the amino acid levels in body fluids are lysine or/and arginine levels in plasma. 